Well, its off to the great unknown!

Dear Family and Friends,

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!! I hope you all had a really great Christmas day! I know that we did. We were so blessed to have a lot of less actives at church. Can you believe that there were 10?! I couldn't. It was a Christmas miracle....really. The key was that the bishop had asked a less active family (of 6) to sing in church, we should do that more often I think! That's the key to getting them to come out to church-INVOLVEMENT! that's a fact. yup. yup.

Everyone in the ward is so great. We just got showered with presents after church it was pretty ridiculous. Half for us and half for the Pinkertons (Sis. Pinkerton just had surgery so they are taking some dow time). We almost weren't able to carry all of this stuff home! I'm pretty sure that we have enough cookies, chocolate, and Shloer to last us a lifetime and to make us each gain a stone! (a stone is like 14 lbs) I hope I don't though. I don't need to gain anything else....weight wise anyway.

The best miracle we had today was that our Christmas dinner suddenly got cancelled (that's not the miracle...) All of a sudden we had nowhere to go and we were planning on spending the afternoon in our flat studying, when one of the less active ladies came up to us and asked us if we would like to come over to her house for dinner. It was so amazing! It was the first time I had met them because they don't want visits from the missionaries. It's a less active couple with two girls who aren't members but come to church every Sunday....so its a little backwards but it was so good to spend time with their family. As we were leaving they told us that we could come back anytime! :) I love Christmas. It does such wonderful things to people's hearts. Whether you believe in God or Jesus Christ or not...you gotta admit that Christmastime is special. That's because it is all about CHRIST!!

I just started reading in Ether, and that book is pretty amazing. Heavenly Father has something with boats....but I suppose there is a good reason for it. But I picked out something cool this time. In Ether 2 he builds the boats, "tight like unto a dish" yeah? Amazingly enough he builds them according as the Lord has directed and then he asks for solutions to problems. No doubt he realized while he was buiding that they weren't going to have air or that they wouldn't have light, or a way to steer. BUT he continued to build the barges in the Lord's way because he trusted the Lord to provide a way. I started to think about how many times I go along doing something in the Lord's way but then I come with an idea that I think might be better and alter my course a little.....no bueno. It doesn't work that way. You can't do what the Lord wants and what you want at the same time....unless of course it is the same. Funny story to illusttrate my point better. ready? OK!

hehe

it's funny

I was driving (that's not the funny part), and we were going home after having dinner with the stake president and the sat nav (she's a little crazy sometimes) was directing us what road to take and things like that when all of a sudden we thought we were going on the wrong road so we turned the sat nav off and decided to go a different way. Bad idea. We ended up on some little back country road that was leading us out to the middle of nowhere. What made matters worse was that when we turned the sat nav back on she was lost too and she was no good to us because she thought we were out in the middle of a sand pit and she kept telling us to make a left at the roundabout but there weren't any! So we had a bit of an adventure off road but we eventually made to an area where there were signs and we were so far away from where we should have been! Moral of the story is: follow the sat nav. Moral of the spiritual side of the story: do what the Lord says the first time and you won't get lost!

I love you all and I hope you have a very good week!

Love, hugs, and fist bumps

Sister Benson (who apparently has an accent)

Shock-ed and Amaz-ed.

Dearest Family (including those who may be sore) and Friends,

 

I cannot believe how close Christmas is! We have so many things that we want to do before Christmasand I fear that it will pass too quickly and we will no longer be able to work along side the special sprirt of Christmas. We have discovered a few things this week and have seen many great miracles!

Richard, who is preparing for baptism, has a smoking problem...However! We found out that dreams really do come true. We were nervous about teaching him the Word of Wisdom because we weren't sure how he would take it because he enjoys smoking so much. The night before we were scheduled to teach him Sister Hedemark had a dream that we taught him about it and told him that he needed to stop smoking and he said, "Yes, I will do whatever it takes to be baptised".....that would most certainly be ideal. :) Well we went to Richard's house and told him about keeping all of God's commandments after baptism and he seemed ok with that and then we said that he needed to start doing that before baptism too and he still seemed to be ok with that. Then we told him that one of the commandments was that he needed to stop smoking and drinking....The look that came on his face was priceless! He was shock-ed and amaz-ed. He told us that he has had friends tell him to stop smoking before but he said that he never would because he enjoys it too much...he paused and pondered...smiled and then said that if that's what was required of him in order to be baptised he would do it. He said he would do whatever it takes even though he admitted that it would take some time and that it wouldn't be easy but he still wanted to do it.

Wait, what? Sister Hedemark just looked at me and we were also shock-ed and amaz-ed. How great and marvelous is the Spirit of the Lord! We could definitly see the Spirit working in him during that lesson. It wasn't because of us that he agreed to stop smoking. Never ever ever give up!! If Richard can give up smoking than anything is possible!

We have been so blessed while finding this past week. We set up many return appointments for next week which is amazing that people want to schedule time to see us even though its the week of Christmas. We only have 3 and half days to work and teach this week really. Tonight, tomorrow,Wednesday and Thursday morning because of Christmas things going on. I am so excited to spendChristmas as a missionary! We have a lot of good things planned and exciting ways to find people!

My time is running short so this email will also be short. lo siento.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Don't forget why this time of year is so special!

2 Nephi 19:6

Love, Hugs and Fist bumps,

Sister Benson

 

ps- humble shepherds make the best missionaries! Luke 2:17 :) they heard. they saw. they shared it with the world :)

Blessings Galore!

Geetings! Salutations! Bonjour! Hola! and hi.....

 

I. LOVE. STROUD.

 

Love, hugs, and fist bumps

Sister Benson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA You thought that was it didn't you?!?! no way jose!

Stroud is alive with the Christmas Spirit and I love it! Ready to hear about some mini miracles from this week? ok. Here goes.

We have been praying for a family to teach, and lo and behold I think we found one! I don't remember if I mentioned Carol and David, the chinese couple? Well here is a quick recap. Sister Hedemark tracted into them in July and hasn't been able to teach them but last week we got a call from them saying that they wanted to come to church! We were so excited! They came to  church (dressed in casual clothes) and really enjoyed it and we set up a time to see them the next Sunday (yesterday) When they came to church yesterday David was in a suit! and Carol was dressed up too! We never said a word to them about what to wear they just did it. We taught them about God and Jesus Christ after church and when we were getting ready to finish David asked us what he needed to read to prepare for our next visit! I love Chinese people, they are just like that all the time and its great. So we not only got 2 new investigators but we also have a little family to teach. Carol is pregnant with their first, but we still think that counts as a family. :)

Remember Merle and Daniel? The most clever 11 year old boy ever?! We haven't been able to see them in awhile because of Merle's new work schedule but we decided to stop by their home and hope for the best. We were so blessed to have the whole family there! Graeme (the dad) asked us questions and thinks that we are doing a good job and that its good for Daniel (its good for the whole family but we are working towards that) We told them about the Joy to the World Christmas DVD and they want to watch it so we set up a time where the whole family will be there to watch it! yet another family!! I am so excited for next Monday night now! I just hope that I'm here......We are going to go on an exchange with the sisters in Harbourne starting Monday night. I hope that I am the one that stays in Stroud because I want to see the McArdle family (Daniel's family)!! But it seems like the junior companion is usually the one who leaves so that will be sad. But I'm sure Harbourne is great too.

TIM!! Right when we think we have hit a brick wall with Tim a glimmer of hope reappears. We taught Tim about the Word of Wisdom and committed him to stop smoking and drinking tea and he said he would try it for a week and see what happened....he lasted a day. So we decided that we needed to recommit him and set a date to stop by. We weren't too sure how he would take that but we needed to try. We have found that our best lessons with him are when we read from the Book of Mormon with him and explain what is going on (he struggles with his comprehension of anything really but the scriptures in particular are hard) So we were reading from the 1 Nephi about the Liahona and Nephi's bow breaking and such. And talking about faith, diligence, and heed (16:28) and out of the blue he says, "So I think that when I stop smoking and drinking tea and whatever else this will all make more sense. I think because God will see that I am trying to do what he thinks I should do so He will say, 'Tim is putting forth some effort so I will help him out a little bit.' But that's just what I think." Hallelujah!! Something sunk in! I was so excited I almost started laughing, but decided against it because that might be interpreted wrong. :) We were just like, yup. that's why we done did told ya to stop smokin'! that's one of the promises of living the word of wisdom- to have added treasures of knowledge! Oh bless...

AND we were praying super hard this week to have more less actives at church. We called tons of them and tried to visit even more because the Pinkertons have been out of commission this week. We got nowhere. So we just prayed that someone would be inspired to come to church on Sunday. We had some in mind that were likely to come and we prayed lots! We were so blessed because we were surprised by who actually came to church! One man, who the Pinkertons have been working with, hasn't been to church in like 20+ years or something like that and he was there!!!! He wasn't just there for Sacrament either, he was there the whole time! Dressed very smart and reading scriptures and taking notes and his whole countenance just shone. The man was literally beaming. I hope that we will start to see him more. The Pinkertons are doing such a great job with the less actives. He made the difference We met standard of excellence this week because he came to church. We want to send him a thank you card. But don't worry we remembered to thank the Lord! After we do all we can do the Lord will bless us for our efforts. Not always how we expect but usually much better!

Love you all and I look forward to talking to you soon.

Apparently Sis Hedemark is going to skype her family. I didn't think that was allowed but I will find out if that's an option. However I know that y'all don't have a webcam. I'll probably just call. But I will let you know for sure next week.

 

Love, hugs, and fist bumps

Sister Benson

One billion converts! :)

 Hello Family and friends!

That is my goal for the transfer, one billion converts! :) If that's not a motivation to work super hard I don't know what is. Impossible you say? False. Here is the reason why. Think about how many people have ever been affected by one person. Take Joseph Smith for example. So many people have been influenced and blessed by just one man! How many families have grown up in the gospel because of one great great great great great great great...great great aunt? Tis possible my freinds. I'm talking long term here obviously, as there are not even that many people in England. PS- we survived transfers again. No one in my district is being transferred so that's great! We have until Jan 18th to continue to make great things happen here in Stroud.

This last week has been interesting. I was truly devastated for the first time in my life I think. It was weird and I don't wish for it to happen again although it almost invariably will. One of our investigators with a baptismal date, Jason has been MIA for a long time. We have called numerous times with no answer. We have been to his house and no answer. Tried to get a hold of him through a friend and no answer. So you see where I'm going with this? Let me tell you. We found out that it was a possbility that he had gotten a new phone and because he has no credit he never calls anyone, he can only accept calls. So we stopped by his house and left a note saying that we hope to hear from him soon and that we all is well. During weekly planning on Friday we got a text.....Dear Sister, I have had a change of heart. All things considered its just not for me. Jason. I was so gutted! my heart truly ached for that man and I have prayed so hard for him to have another chance to accept the gospel. I have come to this conclusion: The Lord knows his children and he knows when the time is right for them. As much as I wish things were different, things are done according to the Lord's timetable. That is nothing new that I learned I have always known that but this thought came into my mind very distinctly and I know that I need to accept it and move on to helping those other great people that we teach. We are blessed with so many people to teach and I sincerely hope that each one of them in their own time will be baptised and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

We have been doing something cool lately. We have been having members write their testimonies in Books of Mormon and wrapping them like gifts and then handing them our to people. It has been so much fun. The best way to spresd Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear....or passing out Book of Mormons. :)

Another thing that I have learned that I wish to share with you goes along with my previous statement. It goes something like this, Everything that I want for my investigators the Lord wants for me. So often, I get in this cycle of thinking, "I wish so-and-so would keep his commitment to read" or "So-and-so really needs to come to church and understand why its so important" or "I just want these people to PROGRESS! Is that too much to ask?" and then I think to myself about my Father in Heaven and how He is probably thinking the same things about me. He's thinking, "Sister Benson. Just progress already! I have given you the tools to do so...Do soemthing about it!" I love it! I cannot convert beyond my own conversion. I need to work hard, study diligently and pray as if everything depended on God but then work as if it all depended on me and my companion.

This work cannot be done without the Spirit. It's one of the easiest things to say but its a tad more difficult to actually accomplish. :)

I love being a missionary more than anything and I am glad to hear that you are all doing well (except madre at the moment...) But I love you all so much and I love you mom and dad!

 

Until next time, May the Spirit be with you

Love, hugs, and fist bumps,

Sister Benson

 

Book of Mormon speak : I would that ye should be diligent in all things, in study and even in prayer. :)